axil23 Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Say if a Tenant gets a break in and calls you at 10pm. You don't answer the call he then calls up a company to come and secure the property. You then get a bill for £300 for a front door to be boarded up. Am I as the LL liable for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Yes, you are responsible for ensuring your property is secure. If you choose not to make it secure because its been reported to you at 10.00pm then your tenant is entitled to arrange someone else to secure it. Although at 10.00pm I expect you would be doing exactly the same as your tenant and phoning a local company to carry out the work.......£300 sounds reasonable given the hour. You can hardly expect your tenant to do the same as you.....ie nothing.......as your property is their home and contains their belongings. Surely the cost would be covered by your buildings insurance ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Yes, you are responsible for ensuring your property is secure. If you choose not to make it secure because its been reported at 10.00pm then your tenant is entitled to arrange someone else to make their home secure. Exactly why you would not want to ensure your property was secure escapes me. Its 10pm and sometimes I am in bed by then. Do you stay awake by the phone 24*7 do you? Bit a of a super LL are you? He could have secured it with a hammer and nail over night. Basically my question was is there a set process for this type of thing or you have to pay what ever the person says it should have. £300 to board up a front door is quite a bit IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 . If you choose not to make it secure because its been reported to you at 10.00pm then your tenant is entitled to arrange someone else to secure it. Read my post again please. At no point have I said that I choose not to do it. I did not pick up as I was in bed. Boy you really do wake up on the wrong side of the bed quite often huh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Its 10pm and sometimes I am in bed by then. Do you stay awake by the phone 24*7 do you? Bit a of a super LL are you? Yes actually I do operate a 24/7 service and I would have travelled to the property to assist any of my tenants who had a serious problem. Thats because I care about my properties and I care about my quality tenants. In my opinion that doesn't make me a super landlord but it does show you up for the lack of care you have for yours. He could have secured it with a hammer and nail over night. Basically my question was is there a set process for this type of thing or you have to pay what ever the person says it should have. Yes, there is a morally acceptable process. It starts with a tenants right to expect help & assistance from their landlord when their is an emergency.......such as a break in. £300 to board up a front door is quite a bit IMHO. I have no idea what the ''going rate'' is for boarding up a front door but, it sounds about right for a call out near to midnight. In any event, your criticism of the size of the bill after failing to offer any assistance is laughable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 is laughable. Haha! Please don't make me laugh! Each to their own I guess. But I need my quality sleep and do not answer my calls when I am sleeping. Will happily pay that price rather then be at the side of the phone 24*7 Cheers to you the super LL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 In my opinion that doesn't make me a super landlord but it does show you up for the lack of care you have for yours. You do make me laugh out loud!!! Right better sit by the phone all night tonight. Who needs sleep when you might get that one phone call in the year tonight! So glad you made me realize what a bad person I am. . In any event, your criticism of the size of the bill after failing to offer any assistance is laughable. You are so right. I am not sure why I even thought about this. The next time I can't get to a property for whatever reason I will pay the contractor whatever he wants. Who needs common sense in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 My view, although maybe not legally correct. I run a business, my T's don't own me and must accept the lack of availability at times, out of hours, holidays, illness. If I employed an A I wouldn't expect more than a message for the T for my 10% or so. The T has responsibilities to resolve emergencies. I believe and contract my T's to be responsible for security. They accept the property as secure from there it's up to them to maintain and protect. My example was a few years ago (2001) an irate call from T, the front door had been forced, bits nicked, he stated security was now compromised. I travelled 80 miles and was there in less than 2 hours. The Yale smashed, the mortice perfect "didn't you use the mortice ?" "No I only close the door behind me", and I was supposed to have responsibility. We don't know the detail here but T's have responsibilities as we've discused in other threads recently. As we can't expect T's to have tradesman skills it may be that reasonable costs come down to the LL though, but I'd argue not ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I sometimes wonder why people bother to post questions on this forum if they can't cope with critical answers. 1. You are the landlord. 2. You need to provide your tenant(s) with a contact number in cases of emergency. 3. In the eyes of the tenant you are that contact. 4. If you choose not to answer your phone or not to have a phone by your bed, where you can hear it, then you have to face the conseqencies of the tenant handling the situation as they see fit. Simple really isn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 £300 to board up a front door is quite a bit IMHO. I tend to lean towards Richlists view. Making the property secure would be classed as a emergency (sort of) just the same as if water was pouring through the ceiling. It isnt as if they didnt try to get hold of you first. Regarding the price I would say that is the going rate for a emergency call out and maybe a bit on the cheap side. We had our office window smashed by yobs a couple of years ago, it wasnt a big one only about 12' x 6 . It was boarded up with 2 bits of plywood at 11.30pm and the cost was 800 quid. What really narked me was not the new window and frame repairs (fitted by the same company) only cost 600 quid but they took away the plywood i had paid 800 quid for. I though as i had paid for it I was going to have it for mixing cement in the garden at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I sometimes wonder why people bother to post questions on this forum if they can't cope with critical answers. 1. You are the landlord. 2. You need to provide your tenant(s) with a contact number in cases of emergency. 3. In the eyes of the tenant you are that contact. 4. If you choose not to answer your phone or not to have a phone by your bed, where you can hear it, then you have to face the conseqencies of the tenant handling the situation as they see fit. Simple really isn't it. Critical answers? You jumped on me when you don't even know my story. What is your story? Why are you always so uptight? Take a chill pill and learn to relax a little in life. You are one of those cranky old men that no one likes. Unfortunately I don't own only high end homes, I own some which are at the lower end of the chain which means a lot of drunks calling up at 1am to say their central heating has gone off. Or the best one yet in broken English "Problem come quick fire" for me to turn up at 10pm to see her gas cooker was not working as well as it should do. I have a life so I would rather live that rather then stress myself out all the time. You off course don't so you can answer your calls 24*7 I am myself renting through one of the biggest Estate agents here and they don't provide any out of hours service. Alright so I am responsible that's all I wanted to know. Cool. Thank for all your help Grampa and Cor..... Learn to relax a little to Richlist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Over the past few years in this and another couple of businesses, we have developed good relationships with some very good tradespeople. We have asked them if they are happy to be recommended by us on our website. If they are, are tenants are instructed that in the event of an emergency, and they are unable to contact us, these should be their first port of call. On the whole this works well but obviously depends on them being available, your issue has however highlighted the need to add a good locksmith to our list. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Dont you have insurance you can claim on ? Problem come quick fire" for me to turn up at 10pm to see her gas cooker was not working as well as it should do..................... Thought you were in bed by then and dont answer the phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I always have my mobile on 24/7 and at the bedside where ever I am Axil to deal with any emergencies - thankfully there are few. Betwixt this Christmas and N. Year 1st floor London tenant phoned up at 11pm. They had gone out, left bathroom casement window wide open and opportunist thief entered nicking her jewellery. Tough but hubby then broke another window in frustration. They expected me to get it fixed next day! Went straight on internet and got them 2 phone numbers reasonably local and told them to get on with it. They did - cost them 180 quid and they were very thankful. I would be more concerned with the security of my property than the state the tenant(s) were in! Mortitia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Dont you have insurance you can claim on ? Problem come quick fire" for me to turn up at 10pm to see her gas cooker was not working as well as it should do..................... Thought you were in bed by then and dont answer the phone I do and will claim the same. This isn't really about this £300 more to know where I stand for future issues. Must have been a Saturday night Stay awake till 11 on the weekends! Bit of a party animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axil23 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I always have my mobile on 24/7 and at the bedside where ever I am Axil to deal with any emergencies - thankfully there are few. Betwixt this Christmas and N. Year 1st floor London tenant phoned up at 11pm. They had gone out, left bathroom casement window wide open and opportunist thief entered nicking her jewellery. Tough but hubby then broke another window in frustration. They expected me to get it fixed next day! Went straight on internet and got them 2 phone numbers reasonably local and told them to get on with it. They did - cost them 180 quid and they were very thankful. I would be more concerned with the security of my property than the state the tenant(s) were in! Mortitia What do you mean by cost them? Did they pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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